Searching - New Search Builder

DISCO’s Search Builder

Search Builder is used to build and execute searches based on a single field or tag, or a combination of criteria. Supported search fields are displayed on the left. On the right will appear Search Help which provides you with search syntax formatting options, along with operator choices which you can insert into the field. Click on or drag-and-drop the desired field(s) to the palette on the right to begin constructing your search.

The Field Picker

To navigate to the Search Builder, you will click into your search bar on your DISCO homepage. The Search Builder will display on your screen.

All of DISCO’s supported search fields are listed in the left panel of the search builder, which we call the “field picker.” This list is broken up into categories. These categories are:

You may either scroll the list to browse the DISCO search language, or you may run searches to filter through the available fields. Once you’ve identified the field you’re looking for, simply click or drag-and-drop the desired search fields into the search canvas to start constructing your search.

You can see in the example above, Custodian is the first search command added to the search canvas (in the middle). Now that Custodian has been added to the search canvas, you can either type the name of a custodian to search on or select a custodian from the searchable list displayed on the screen. The counts to the right of each custodian listed tell you how many documents are associated with that particular custodian in the matter.

Integrated Search Help

You may also notice there is a definition of Custodian in the search builder’s right-hand help panel. For whichever search field you are focused on, the search panel will provide a definition of that search field, clickable templates to help complete the syntax, and all applicable search operators. We also always display the order of operations, immediately followed by a link to DISCO’s comprehensive search guide. Should you decide that you don’t need DISCO’s integrated help content, you can elect to hide the search help panel using the link provided.

Building Queries With Multiple Search Fields

Once you’ve added two or more search fields to the search canvas, you will notice that each field is separated by a search operator. The default search operator that is applied between fields is “&.”

This search operator can easily be changed by selecting the arrow button to the right, and selecting “or,” “&,” or “not” from the dropdown.

You can also make this search string a nested group by adding a parenthesis. To add a parenthesis, you will hover your cursor over the beginning of your search string, once you have added a parenthesis to the beginning, the system will suggest options for where you can close the parenthetical group.

Upon closing the parenthetical group, DISCO will indent the group and place a bracket around it, making it easy to visualize how search groups are nested within the context of the query. In the example below, an additional search field has been added to search by tag(Hot), and is connected by the “&” operator.

You may notice, the group (hasPrivilege(yes) or hasRedaction(yes)) is enclosed in a bracket, followed by & tag(hot). Once the search string is built, select the ‘Run search’ button at the bottom and DISCO will convert your search into textual syntax and place it within the search bar. Therefore, the search built with the assistance of DISCO’s search builder, will now appear as it does in the image below.

Append Options - If there’s an existing query in the search box above, there will be additional options on the “Run search” button, allowing you to append your search builder query to the existing one. By selecting the caret to the right of the “Run search” button, you will see a list of options, along with counts letting you know how many documents would result by selecting AND, OR, or NOT with the existing search. This allows you to see a comparison of results that return depending on how you set up your search.

If you have any questions, please submit a ticket to DISCO support. In addition, here is a link to DISCO’s Search Manual for your reference.

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As the leading provider of software as a service solutions developed by lawyers for lawyers, DISCO is reinventing legal technology to automate and simplify complex and error-prone tasks that distract from practicing law. DISCO has been embraced by more than 400 law firms, including 50 of the AmLaw 200, as their first choice for innovative technologies that help great lawyers and their teams secure justice and win cases.